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How to Tell if an Old Coin Is Copper or Silver

Until World War II, copper and silver were, along with gold, the main metals used in striking coins. As the only one of the three to be a base metal, copper was naturally used for lower denominations which had to be struck in greater numbers. This means that old copper coins are on the whole less rare and valuable than their silver counterparts, and it is therefore important to be able to tell the two apart.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the color of the old coin. Copper coins tend to dull to a brown-black and they sometimes develop traces of verdigris -- green spots caused by oxidization. Old silver coins oxidize to a gray-black hue, and verdigris does not appear.
- 2
  Give the coin a rub with your thumb. The oxidized layer on silver is very soft and should leave a grubby mark on your skin; the dirt on a copper coin is much more firmly fixed and won't come off in the same way.
- 3
  Consider the size of the coins. As a general rule, old copper coins tend to be much bigger than old silver coins because the material they were made from was much cheaper.

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